Mixing Fresh Strawberries with Voice-Overs:
Is this a good recipe? Actually, yes.
This afternoon while my wife was at work I took a studio break and walked over to Safeway where fresh strawberries are on sale this week: 2 pounds for $2.97
Now for my math challenged friends, that is just under $1.50 per pound. For just a moment I reminisced that last summer they averaged a buck per pound. And there were some weeks last year when you could snag them at 2 for 99 cents during certain sale periods. Damn that inflation!
But wait a minute. What about the farmer? That farm family is just like me. He probably went to school for a degree in Agriculture and then paid farm consultants for expert advice. She purchased land, they bought a tractor and wagon and then had to spent money on seeds and fertilizer. They hired locally to help plant, do the weeding and help with the harvest. Somebody had to wash those berries, load them onto trucks and drive them to the wholesale markets. They paid bookkeepers and likely did the equipment cleaning themselves at night.
Just like me, a Voice Actor, that farmer has a lot invested in the business. Just like me, there is no guarantee of success and outside events such as weather patterns, government regulations and economic trends impact the operation. Just like mine.
In a large number of American small businesses, one spouse or partner works full-time at the business for little or no salary while the other spouse or partner holds an outside job to keep food on the table and clothes on the kids. They sacrifice to build their future. As financial guru Dave Ramsey likes to say, “they live like no one else today so that someday they can live like no one else.” Maybe this sounds just like you?
In business school you learn that for the typical business to make it to their first five-year mark, they need to turn a positive profit of 20% or more in at least 3 out of 5 years. One fire, a delivery accident, product spoilage, shoplifter theft, disgruntled customer lawsuits, severe weather storms, etc, can wipe out an entire year, if not more. To stay in play longer than five years, a common benchmark of short-term success, requires even greater profit margins to re-tool and improve products, add more services, hire more help, increase employee benefits, expand locations, and grow market share.
So, perhaps my grumbling at $1.50 per pound strawberries is unjustified.
Which brings me to the $5 buyers from Pakistan on places like Fiverr, Freelancer and Upwork.
I used to hate those guys. They want cheap work, request multiple revisions, and sometimes leave hurtful reviews. Some claim that they’re killing our business and that if you accept a low rate, well, then you are killing our business.
I don’t buy that. The art of the VO business is much like farming. We start with small seedlings and grow our business from the dirt up. We water, weed, fertilize, and hope to generate a bountiful harvest. But we don’t start with the harvest. We start by planting seeds.
That little guy in Pakistan doesn’t live in the USA, UK or Canada. He doesn’t live in a fancy house, drive a modern car, and his children don’t wear designer clothing. But he or she is out there hustling for clients, crafting a script and then sending you or me a request for the best rate possible. He is he middle man which explains why he requests revisions—if his client isn’t happy, then nobody gets paid.
On the bright side, he or she is building a business. It is business that you would not have without her, so lighten up a bit. Help that person build a business and go for the long term. Build a relationship. View it like a college coach who takes a chance on a walk-on, non-scholarship player with a hungry attitude. Often those kids develop into talented players that eventually get drafted by the professional leagues.
If you are just starting VO, turn a deaf ear to those who scream about high rates. You are not going to be paid $1200 for a 30 second commercial airing for a month in a medium television market. Yet. But your work on platforms like Fiverr, Freelancer, Upwork, etc, can give you experience and help you earn the money needed for coaching, good studio acoustics, pro equipment, etc.
In many cases you certainly can develop those low-ball clients into regular customers. Communicate with them honestly. Tell them your strategy of helping them get started and become successful in their backyard. Share with them your strategy of building them into something great and that in turn will also build you into something great. Some will not believe you, but those who do will become clients for life.
Tune out the naysayers. There are plenty of them in this industry.
They have their YouTube channels and Blogs filled with pure BS that sounds like this: “A rising tide raises all boats and so you should charge high rates which will benefit everyone.”
Having lived in the Caribbean and the Netherlands, I will tell you that those players are afraid. You see, tides rise and they fall. Like clockwork depending on the time of day. Those voices are not concerned with you becoming successful, no, they are afraid to be on the boat when the tide goes out. You should have no fear because the tides are consistent. They rise and fall, every single day. Just get in your boat and become a master seaman or seawoman.
As a new Voice Actor, start where you can get business and practice. As you earn, advance in your training, your booth, your equipment and your marketing. Your rates will rise as you rise in the industry.
Don’t worry about the tides. But do buy some fresh strawberries and support your local farmers because fresh Strawberries and Voice-Overs mix very well together.